Roll film camera



i De'26 1939. H. BECKER Erm.. r 'Y `-21843331 ROLL uw CAMERA Filed nec.9. 1937 INVENTORS Patented Dee. ze, 1939v UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicEnon. FILM oAMEnA Helmut Becker and Otto Sanger, Wetzlar, Germany,assignors to Ernst Leitz, G. n i. b. H.,

Wetzlar, Germany Application December 9, 1937, Serial No. 178,836 InGermany January 18, 1937 2 Claims. (Cl. 242-55) This invention relatesto motion picture cameras of the type which is arranged to operate withfilm containing casettes. of different capacities, the casettes beingattached to the outside of 5 the camera housing. 'I'he camera ispreferably so constructed that a smaller lm c'asette is at' tachedthereto so as to form a single body of the general outline dimensions asthe camera itself. If a larger quantity of film is required,.-

the reel shafts are different for the two sizes ofcasettes. This in turndemands that the reel driving shafts in the camera be arrangedaccordingly, that is to drive .the reels both in the larger and inthesmaller. casettes. e

The object of this invention is to provide a motion picture camera witha reel driving mechanism for driving the reels in both the larger andthe smaller film casettes. One object of the invention is to constructsuch a reel driving mechanism in an exceedingly simple emcient formwhich shall require no special attention or operation on the part of theoperator.

The invention is embodied in a camera having four reel driving shafts.Two of these shafts are spaced so as to operate the reels in the smallercasette. The other two shafts are spaced so as to operate the reels inthelarger casette. The

shafts have coupling members which engage the reels in the casettes.When one casette is attached to the camera, the coupling members for 40the reels in the other casette are rendered inoperative. In theaccompanying drawing Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a motion picturecamera embodying the invention and showing in dotted outlines the reelsin the two casettes in their relation to the camera shafts.

- Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view showing a portion of the camera and acasette attached thereto with parts broken away and parts in section onthe line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

Referring to Fig. 1, lthe numeral I denotes a' motion picture camerahaving an objective 20 carried in'an upstanding portion 2l behind whichthe casettes are secured by any suitable means which are no part ofthisinvention and therefore not shown. Within the camera there is providedtwo film operating shafts 22 and 23 which are actuated by the usualcamera driving mechanism, not shown, to cause the film to be unwoundfrom the film supply reel vand to be wound up upon the empty reel andlvice versa in a well 5 known manner. These shafts carry gears I2 and I3respectively. e

'I'he camera is provided with a suitable parti-- tion 24 beneath its topwall 25, Fig. 2, and in the latter and the said partition there isrotatably l0 supported four hollow reel driving shafts marked I4. Eachof these four shafts is provided with a gear I1 which` meshes with theadjacent gears 22 and 23 respectively as shown in Fig. 1. Each hollowreel driving shaft' is further provided with i5 a coupling member marked8, 9, I0 andl yIl respectively which members are urged upward andproject above the camera top 25 by springs I5.

lBefore a casette is attached to the camera the four coupling memberswill therefore project 20 above the camera top to an extent as shown atthe left side in Fig. 2.

The smaller casette is marked 2 and corresponds in outline to theoutlines of thel top wall 25 of the camera. The casette contains a film25 supply reel and a lmwinding up reel indicated respectively by thedotted circles 3 and 4 in Fig. 1. The centers of the casette reels inthe smaller casette 2 coincide with the centers of the coupling members8 and I0`on the shafts I4 in 50 the camera so that when the casette isattached, the hollow shafts 26 of the reels 3 and 4 fit over andautomatically engage the projecting coupling members 8 and I0. The reelshafts 2l have their inner bores 21 shaped to iit over the 85 couplingmembers 8 and I0 in driving connection as wil1be understood. The twoother projecting coupling members 9 and II are depressed Y within theirrespective hollow shafts I4 by the casette housing as shown to the rightin Fig. 2. 40

The larger casette 5 is indicated in Fig. 1 and contains the two filmreels 5 and I which are identical in construction with the smaller reelsf3 and 4 except forv the diameters thereof.. Each provides a film reeldriving mechanism in a' roll 111m camera. motion picture camera orotherwise, l

which is automatically engaged by the nlm reel shafts in nlm casetteshaving different capacities. The matter of operatively connecting thenim reels in the casettes to the driving shafts in the camera requiresno special attention or manipulation of parts by the operator.

I claim:

1. In a photographic camera a pair of nlmI reel driving shafts spaced agiven distance apart to drive the nlm reels in a nlm casette, anotherpair of nlm reei driving shafts spaced another given distance apart todrive the nlm reels in another nlm casette, coupling members in saiddriving shafts, means normally positioning the coupling members toengage the nlm reels in the casettes when the latter are attached tothecamera, the coupling members of one pair of driving shafts being movedwithin the camera when the coupling members in the other pair of shaftsengage a pair of nlm reels and means within the camera for operating thesaid nlm reel driving shafts.

2. In a photographic camera, a nl m operating mechansm for operating thesupply reel and the winding up reel in either one of two nlm casettes,the distance .between the centers of the reels of one casette beingdifferent from the distance between the centers of the film reels of theother casette, said operating mechanism comprising a pair of nlm reeldriving shafts spaced to engage the nlm reels in one of said casetteswhen the latter is attached to the camera, a second pair of nlm reeldriving shafts spaced to engage the nlm reels in the other of saidcasettes when the latter is attached to the camera, means for yield-'ingly supporting said pairs of nlm reel driving shafts in normalpositions projecting from the camera, one of said pair of shaftsautomatically operatively engaging the nlm reels of one of said casettesattached to the camera, the other pair of said shafts being depressedwithin the camera by the attachment of said casette and means fordriving said spaced pairs of nlm reel driving shafts.

v HELMUT BECKER.

O'I'IO SANGER..

